Not over? McDaniels awaits provisional ballots

It will be Friday afternoon before we know who has won the third seat on the Luther Town Board of Trustees. As of now,  Paxton Cavin has a two vote lead over appointed incumbent Andy McDaniels for the third seat on the board for the four-year term.

This Friday, the Oklahoma County Election Board will meet to consider three provisional ballots cast in Luther Tuesday, the three votes that could turn the outcome of the election. They are expected to certify the election results for the county by 5 pm.

Late Tuesday night, McDaniels said he knew of provisional ballots cast that made the election outcome too close to call. That sent The Luther Register hunting for what “provisional ballots” are. County Election Board Secretary Doug Sanderson said they are ballots that are not accepted at the polling facility on the day of the election because of an issue with residency proof or voter identification, and are saved for the election board members to review. He confirmed there are three provisional ballots in Luther, although he does not know whether those votes were cast for town trustees or the sheriff’s candidates.

The election board will consider 37 county-wide provisional ballots in its certification meeting beginning at about 3:30 pm on Friday. (The Luther Register will be there).

These three ballots in question are critical in Luther because only two votes separate candidates Cavin and McDaniels. The pair tied for in person voting on Tuesday night, and after absentee and early voting votes were posted, Cavin edged ahead by two votes.

Also Friday, the election board will certify the results for the rest of the election which show Jenni White, Trandy Langston and Jason Roach as the top vote-getters for the 2017 election.

Here are the uncertified results of absentee, early voting and election day (without the provisional ballots) of the vote, according to the State Election board website :

Four-year term
Ronald Johnson 45
*Jenni White 121
Mike McClure 86
Andy McDaniels 97
Paxton Cavin 99
Birlene Langley 49
*Trandy Langston 102

Two-year term
Carolyn Lawson 48
Cecilia Taft 5
Herbert Keith 67
*Jason Roach 91

Fields Youngblood Water Well Drilling